MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to devise a plan that would enable candidates in the 2022 local and national elections to conduct limited in-person campaigns.
“Kung papayagan nila tayo mag-assemble (If they would allow us to assemble) because you cannot campaign by just shouting at one corner. You have to have a place that – maybe they would limit the attendance and the number of people there,” Duterte said in his weekly Talk to the People aired late Tuesday night.
According to Duterte, not all candidates can afford to spend for political advertisements, specifically those broadcast on television.
“I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates, really, the space and whatever modality there. Because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford – some candidates cannot afford the expense of [television] exposures,” he said.
The Comelec had previously stated that the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic had caused a “major shift” in the election campaign.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez urged the candidates to strictly adhere to health and safety regulations, especially when organizing political gatherings.
Candidates who refuse to follow existing pandemic protocols are “endangering their own supporters,” he claimed.
